Rambling Film

Just because you have a good idea doesn't mean you can make it interesting. I have to be honest with you, I cannot accurately review The Human Centipede without spoiling it. You need to know exactly how ridiculous this all is. That was your warning. I just want to say that I really dig Tom Six's idea. The horror of someone actually sewing three people together, anus to mouth, and connecting them by one digestive system is truly terrifying. As sick as it sounds, you have to admit it's different and interesting. If this project had fallen into the hands of say, Eli Roth or Wes Craven, we would've had a truly terrifying film. But instead, we get something that has more plot holes then the centipede has legs. I'm going to illustrate said plot holes with parenthesis. Two pretty (token) American Tourists Lindsay (Ashley C. Williams) and Jenny (Ashlynn Yennie) are enjoying their European vacation. They are currently in Germany and are searching for a Night club. (in th...

Where the hell was Ben Foster's Oscar nomination? I think that's a logical question to ask after viewing this film. How was he NOT nominated? Lead Actor wasn't that tight of a race last year. The Messenger follows Staff Sergeant Montgomery (Foster) has he nears the end of his enlistment. He's a war hero, still suffering from the effects and he's assigned to the duty of notifying the Next of Kin when soldiers go missing or die. It's a tough job, and Captain Stone (Woody Harrelson) is showing him the ropes. The duties are simple, don't touch them, don't comfort them, tell them what they need to be told, then leave. Montgomery ends up getting too close to Olivia (Samantha Morton) a recently widowed woman that takes the news of her husband's death far better then the other characters we see in the film. One thing that really stuck out to me in this film was the angry rock music that Montgomery always had playing. It fit with his personality so well a...

Slightly different label, same old medicine. Love and Other Drugs is a romantic drama/comedy that disguises itself as something different. They want you to look past those rom com cliches (and oh, there are a few) and see the performances. Jamie (Jake Gyllenhaal) is a womanizer who gets a job as a prescription medicine salesman. He woos nearly every woman in sight while he's shilling Zoloft. (and later Viagra) Eventually he meets Maggie, (Anne Hathaway) a free spirited artist who happens to have stage 1 Parkinson's disease. Neither of them want a relationship, they just want the sex. They start out that way, but it eventually forms into something different. The film's main marketing campaign was that this film is "raunchy." There are a few nude scenes with our leads and some off color jokes, but I didn't think this film was nearly as raunchy as they made it sound. It suffers from the same old formula used in many other romantic films, ie: friends with bene...

Over-acting by the adult leads can't steal the heart of the story from the teen actors. "The Greatest." That's how Rose (Carey Mulligan) describes her recent encounter with Bennett. (Aaron Johnson) Not too long after this Rose and Bennett are in an accident which ultimately claims his life. Rose finds out she is pregnant and wants to include Bennett's family in her baby's life. Parents Allen (Pierce Brosnan) and Grace (Susan Sarandon) are coping in different ways. Allen refuses to talk about it, Grace is dead set on speaking with Jordon (Michael Shannon) who was the last person to speak to her son while he was alive, before his own injuries put him into a coma. Bennett's younger but obviously older brother Ryan (Johnny Simmons) copes by getting high and attending a support group for people who have lost loved ones. Rose is a curious girl and Mulligan plays her with elegance and heart. She's in a tough situation and tries to make the best of it. The ...

  The beginning of the End. Dumbledore is dead and Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) and his Death Eaters have taken over the Ministry of Magic. Voldemort's main concern is killing Harry Potter. (Daniel Radcliffe) Harry and his close friends, Ron, (Rupert Grint) and Hermione (Emma Watson) skip their last year of school at Hogwarts and embark on a search to find Voldemort's remaining Horcruxes, which are objects that he has hidden bits of his soul in so he avoid death. They also learn about The Deathly Hallows, which include the Elder Wand, (the most powerful wand in the world) The Resurrection Stone (brings people back to life) and the Cloak of Invisibility (self-explanatory) and how important they become. Being the Potter fanatic that I am, I have to say I am SO pleased with how Part I was handled. Deathly Hallows was by far the most detailed book and required the split given to the movies to include all that. I would've preferred a 5 hour flick with an intermission, but ...

Megamind is no Dragon Megamind (Will Ferrell) is a super villain who's entire life has revolved around trying to get the best of Metro Man. (Brad Pitt) His plots always get thwarted. He kidnaps popular reporter Roxanne Ritchi (Tina Fey) all the time, and Metro Man gets her back. Finally Megamind actually get's the best of Metro Man, and takes over Metro City. (which he pronounces to rhyme with "atrocity") Now he feels incomplete. What good is a super villain without a hero to fight? He and his Minion (David Cross) attempt to create a new hero for him to duel. When I was leaving the theater, I heard a lot of people say Megamind was too much like Despicable Me. They both revolved around super vvillains that have a change of heart. Megamind starts off really funny, then gets incredibly boring. Towards the end of the film it regains it's hilarity. That's the biggest problem with Megamind. While it's got a sweet story and some good laughs, it just feels lik...

Leonardo DiCaprio is hands down one of the best actors of our generation. 40 years from now, people are going to be talking about Leo the same way we talk about Clint Eastwood, Robert DuVall and Paul Newman. He's already a classic. It took me awhile to warm up to DiCaprio. I didn't fall into the "he's so dreamy!" group when he was a teen actor. While everyone else was drooling over his performances in Titanic and Romeo and Juliet I was impressed with his work in Basketball Diaries and What's Eating Gilbert Grape. His acting caught my attention before his looks did. Now here's my rundown. I had to incorporate "runner ups" because I realized I just like way too much of his stuff. Someone give this guy an Oscar already! My Favorite Film: The Departed It's really, REALLY hard to pick a favorite Leo film. I love Gangs of New York, but that's mostly because of Daniel Day-Lewis. I love Blood Diamond, but that's mostly for Djimon Hounsou. ...

The adventures of two unlikeable characters Did you see the trailers for this movie? Then you saw the majority of the funny bits. 'Due Date' follows father to be Peter (Robert Downey Jr.) and his quest to get home to his pregnant wife, Sarah. (Michelle Monaghan) A chance run in with Ethan Tremblay (Zach Galifianakis) winds up with both of them on the no fly list and driving from Atlanta, GA to Los Angelos, CA with only a few days before Sarah's scheduled C section. Shenanigans ensues. I'll admit, there's some really, really funny parts in this film, but the rest is so over the top and thrown together it feels redundant. Robert Downey Jr is a fine actor, but I felt like he had to carry this entire film because Galifianakis wasn't holding up his end of the deal. He's a funny guy, check out his stand up, but I honestly felt that Downey Jr was the superior comic in this film. It's not the actors' faults. It's the script. Director Todd Phillips ...

I appreciate all kinds of movies. Today, I decided to pay tribute to a few of my favorite films that aren't in my native English language. 1) Pan's Labyrinth:  Whenever I think of Guillermo del Toro the first thing that comes to mind is fabulous art direction. His films always have a distinct look to them, they're beautiful and bizarre. Pan's Labyrinth is no different. Taking place in fascist Spain a young girl escapes her cruel stepfather in a elaborate fantasy world. It's anything but a fairy tale, young Ofeila has to complete tasks that make her question right and wrong. I loved the look and the dark feel of this film. It's got everything a good film needs, plus a hell of a performance from young Ivana Baquero. 2) Am é lie: This film is like a giant warm fuzzy. It was so warm and so endearing that it's probably one of the best love stories of all time. Amélie is a peculiar young woman who marches to the beat of her own drum. We watch her go ...